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Class » J— I/'hO 
Book ‘M±A&S— 
Copight N°_ 

COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. 










































































































































































































































































THE NEGRO AMERICAN 
SERIES 


NEGRO 

BOYS 

and 

GIRLS 



EMMA E. AKIN 

\\ 

Supervisor ol 
Elementary Grades 
Drumright, Oklahoma 

Photos by 

THAT MAN STONE CO. 


HARROW PUBLISHING 
CORPORATION 


OKLAHOMA CITY 
OKLAHOMA 







Copyright 1938 
by 

HARLOW PUBLISHING CORPORATION 




23 


©ClA 11 69 23 


This book is dedicated 
to America’s Negro Boys and Girls. 




ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 


To all mothers, fathers, and friends who have en¬ 
couraged us in making this book, we say, “Thank you.” 

We feel especially grateful to: 

Mrs. Gretchen P. Johnson, primary teacher at Dun¬ 
bar School, Drumright, Oklahoma, and to Mr. Joe S. 
Johnson, principal, for their untiring assistance, advice, 
and encouragement. 

Clara Bell Birt, Richard Birt, Clara Ever White, 
Floyd White, Harold Adams, Betty Jean Brown, Rosa 
Lee Gallaway, Annabelle Richardson, Geraldine Rich¬ 
ardson, Mrs. James White, Mrs. Gretchen P. Johnson, 
Mrs. Clara Brown, and Mr. C. C. McIntosh for per¬ 
mitting us to use their pictures. 

Mrs. Agnes Beutler, Miss Nancy Ammons, and Mrs. 
Elnora Johnson, teachers in the Drumright public 
schools, for assistance in vocabulary studies. 

Miss Edna Morgan, primary teacher in Drum- 
right schools, for vocabulary work and help in organiz¬ 
ing the content of this book. 

Mr. Frank D. Hess, superintendent, and the Board 
of Education, Drumright Public Schools, Mr. E. A. Duke, 
State Rural School Supervisor, and Mr. Roscoe Dunjee, 
Editor of the Black Dispatch, Oklahoma City, for their 
advice and encouragement. 











WHY THIS BOOK WAS MADE 


Boys and girls, this book was made to 
help you learn more about your own people. 
You will enjoy seeing the real pictures of 
Negro children and Negro leaders. 

You will be proud of the Negro race and 
of the many fine things your people are do¬ 
ing. You will want your school to be as much 
like the Dunbar School as you can make it. 

This book will tell you something about 
what it means to be a good American citizen. 

You will like the stories of friendship be¬ 
tween black and white people. You will learn 
that even a small child can do much for his 
home and his race. 





STORIES IN THIS BOOK 


School ... 1 

What We Do at School..... 13 

Fun at School. 20 

We Count... 24 

Our Dunbar School......----- 30 

Our Teacher.. 31 

We Help....... 32 

Mother ....... 43 

Rosa Lee Helps .... 44 

Rosa Lee’s Breakfast_ 47 

The Clock... 62 

Going - to Clara’s House... 64 

Dunbar . 73 

Our Class . 96 

How We Play at Home__-. 98 

Clara’s Doll _ ~~.-. 103 

Clara’s Kittens .. — 105 



















The Party. 

Who Am I. 

Our Songs ... 
Roland Hayes 
Thank You ... 


108 

112 

113 

117 

130 







NEGRO BOYS AND GIRLS 








* 




School 

Good-morning! 

’ 

I am Clara. 

I am six years old. 
I go to school. 



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Good-morning! 

I am Harold. 

I am six years old. 
I go to school. 


(2) 








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• •, v . . . < 




Good-morning! 

I am Rosa Lee. 

I am six years old. 
I go to school. 

I am little. 


( 3 ) 
































Can you find Harold? 
Can you find Clara? 

Can you find Rosa Lee? 
Rosa Lee is little. 


(4) 



































Good-morning! 

I am Anna Bell. 

I go to school. 

I am little. 

I am five years old. 


(5) 






Harold has a book. 

Clara has a book. 

Anna Bell has a book. 

Can you find a little book? 
Can you find Harold? 

Can you find Clara? 

Can you find Anna Bell? 






















































Harold has two pencils. 

•f1 

Find Harold. 

Clara has a pencil. 

Find Clara. 

Find a book and two pencils. 
Can you find a little pencil? 
Can you find a little book? 
Has Clara a book? 


( 7 ) 














Clara has a paper. 
Harold has a paper. 

Find Harold’s paper. 

Find Harold’s pencil. 
Harold has one pencil. 
Rosa Lee has one pencil. 























We have chairs. 

We have little chairs. 

Can you find two chairs? 

Can you find two little chairs? 

Clara and Anna Bell 
have little chairs. 

Harold and Rosa Lee 
have little chairs. 

(») 



We have a big table. 

We have a little table. 

Can you find a big table? 
Can you find a little table? 

Draw a big table. 

Draw a little table. 

Draw two chairs. 









































We have clocks at school. 
Find Harold’s clock. 

Find a little clock. 

Draw one little clock. 

Draw a big clock. 

Clara has a big clock. 

Clara can draw a clock. 
Harold can draw a clock. 


( 11 ) 







We have scissors. 

Anna Bell has scissors. 

Harold has scissors. 

Clara has scissors. 

Can you find Harold’s scissors? 
Can you find Clara’s scissors? 


( 12 ) 



What We Do at School 

We sing at school. 

Harold can sing. 

Clara can sing. 

Anna Bell can sing. 

Rosa Lee can sing. 

Can you sing? 

What can you sing? 







root 


































We read at school. 
We read books. 



Anna Bell said, 

“I can read.” 

Harold said, 

“I can read books.” 

Clara said, 

“I can read little books.” 


















We write at school. 

We write on our papers. 

Harold said, 

“Can you write?” 

Clara said, 

“I can write.” 

Rosa Lee and Anna Bell said, 
“We can write on our papers.” 

( 15 ) 








We play at school. 

We like to play. 

Anna Bell can play. 
Harold can play. 

Clara can play. 

Can you play? 

What can you play? 
Play you have a pencil. 
Write to Rosa Lee. 

(1G) 












































We draw pictures at school. 
Harold can draw a table. 
Clara can draw a chair. 

Anna Bell can draw a clock. 

What can you draw? 

Find pencils and paper. 

Draw what Clara can draw. 
Draw what Harold can draw. 


( 17 ) 




We cut pictures at school. 
Harold can cut pictures. 

Anna Bell can cut pictures. 
Clara can cut pictures. 

Harold said, 

“Can you cut a table? 

Can you cut a chair?” 


Clara said, 

“I can draw a chair. 
I can cut a chair.” 










We have a flower at school. 
We like the flower. 

Clara can draw a flower. 

Harold can cut a flower. 

Can you cut a flower? 

Can you draw a flower? 

Can you draw a pretty flower? 

Can you find our pretty flower? 


( 10 ) 



Fun at School 
Anna Bell said, 

“We like school. 

We like to read. 

We like to write. 

We like to draw. 

We make pretty pictures. 
We like to sing. 

We like to sing for you.” 


Rosa Lee said, 

“We like to play. 

We have fun at school.” 





Anna Bell said, 

“One, two, 

I see you!” 

Clara said, 

“One, two, three, 

Can you see me?” 

Anna Bell and Clara 
have fun at school. 

4 


( 21 ) 











Rosa Lee said, 
“One, two, three, 
See me! See me!” 


Harold said, 

“One, two, three, four, 

I can sweep the floor!” 

Can you see Rosa Lee? 

( 22 ) 











DO THIS 


1. Find a book. 

2. Find a tablet. 

3. Find a chair. 

4. Find a pencil. 

5. Find a picture. 

6. Find a table. 

7. Find a clock. 

8. Read a book. 

9. Write on a tablet. 

10. Sit on a chair. 

11. Write with a pencil. 

12. Cut a flower with scissors. 

13. Make a pretty picture. 

14. Draw three big clocks. 


( 23 ) 


We Count 

Harold said to Clara, 

“Can you count?” 

Clara said to Harold, 

“I can count. 

May I count for you? 

I will count one chair. 

I will count two chairs. 

I will count three chairs. 

I will count four chairs. 

I like to count.” 

Harold said, 

“You may count for me. 

You may count our chairs.” 


( 24 ) 


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Harold said, 

“Here are four chairs. 

Here are two pencils. 

Here are seven books. 

Will you count the books?” 

Clara said, 

“I see one chair. 



One, two, three, four books. 
Can you find seven books? 
Can you find four chairs? 
Can you find two pencils?” 





V.V.'.V.WWX* 






























































































TRY THIS 

1. Count two books. 

2. Count three chairs. 

3. Count four pictures. 

4. Count five pencils. 

5. Count seven chairs. 

6. Draw one flower. 

7. Draw five chairs. 

8. Draw three clocks. 

9. Draw four pencils. 

10. Draw two tables. 

11. Draw six books. 


( 28 ) 


WE CAN DO THIS 
Harold can draw two clocks. 
Clara can draw one clock. 

Harold and Clara can draw 
... clocks. 

Rosa Lee can draw three books. 
Harold can draw two books. 

Rosa Lee and Harold can draw 
..books. 

Clara can cut one flower. 

Rosa Lee can cut four flowers. 
Clara and Rosa Lee can cut 

.. flowers. 

Harold likes to cut flowers. 

He cut nine pretty flowers. 

(29) 






Our Dunbar School 

This is our school. 

Our school is pretty. 

We call our school Dunbar. 

We like our pretty Dunbar School. 
Rosa Lee, Harold, and Anna Bell 
go to school at Dunbar. 


( 30 ( 


HI 




Our Teacher 

This is our teacher. 

We call our teacher Mrs. Johnson. 
Our teacher is kind. 

We like our teacher. 


( 31 ) 



(32 J 












Mrs. Johnson said, 

“What can you do?” 

Clara said, 

“I can bring a pretty picture.” 

Mrs. Johnson said, 

“I like a pretty picture. 

A picture will make 
our school pretty. 


( 33 ) 



Thank you, Clara. 

You may help.” 

Harold said, 

“May I help you, too?” 

Mrs. Johnson said, 
“What can you do? 
You are little.” 

Harold said, 

“I am not too little. 


(34) 




I can sweep the floor.” 

Mrs. Johnson said, 

“I like a clean floor. 

A clean floor will 
make our school pretty. 
Thank you, Harold. 

You are not too little. 
You may help.” 


(35) 



Rosa Lee said, 
“May I help you?” 

Mrs. Johnson said, 
“You are so little. 
You can not work.” 

Rosa Lee said, 

“I can smile. 

I like to smile.” 















Mrs. Johnson said, 

“I like a smile. 

It will make our school pretty. 
You are not too little. 

You may help, Rosa Lee. 

You may smile and smile.” 


Harold did sweep the floor. 
Clara did bring a picture. 

Mrs. Johnson did work. 
Clara worked. 

Harold worked, too. 

Rosa Lee did not work. 

Rosa Lee smiled. 

Clara smiled. 

Harold smiled. 

Mrs. Johnson smiled, too. 

The school was pretty. 




Clara liked the pretty school. 

Rosa Lee said, 

“Pretty school, pretty school! 
We can smile; we can sing. 

Pretty school, pretty school! 
We can play in a ring.” 


(39) 


WHAT DO YOU THINK? 

1. Mrs. Johnson is the... 

2. The school is ... 

3. It is a pretty ... 

4. Harold and Rosa Lee. 

Dunbar. 

5. Clara is .... 

6. Harold is . 

7. Rosa Lee is. 

8. Harold is.years old. 

teacher kind polite 

school like Dunbar 

clean six pretty 


( 40 ) 











READ AND DO 


1. Count to seven. 

2. Draw two books. 

3. Draw one clock. 

4. Write your name. 

5. Cut a pretty flower. 

6. Make three flowers. 

7. Write Harold’s name. 

8. Write Clara’s name. 

9. Sing what you like. 

10. Read a book. 

11. Draw a school house. 

12. Sit on a chair. 

13. Write with your pencil. 

14. Call your teacher. 


( 41 ) 


READ AND TALK 
Do you like a pretty school? 
Do you like a pretty picture? 
Do you like a pretty smile? 

Can you help your teacher? 
What can you do to help? 

Are you too little 
to keep the floor clean? 

Can you bring a picture? 

Can you bring a flower? 

Can you bring a smile? 

Do you like to work? 

Do you like to talk? 

What do you like to do? 


( 42 ) 


This is Clara’s mother. 

Her mother is a kind woman. 
Clara likes to help her mother. 
Her mother likes to help Clara. 


( 43 ) 


Rosa Lee Helps 

Rosa Lee has a mother, too. 

Early one morning 
Rosa Lee said, 

“I want to be kind. 

I want to help you, Mother.” 

Her mother said, 

“You are so little, . 

What can you do, Rosa Lee?” 

Rosa Lee said, 

“I can work for you. 

I can sweep the floor. 

I will sweep it clean. 

May I try, Mother? 

(44) 




“I can make the bed, too. 

I will make my bed. 

I will make your bed. 

My bed is little. 

Your bed is big. 

Your bed is so big, Mother! 

Oh! Oh! Oh! 

I like to work! 

I like to help my kind mother.” 


( 45 ) 


Rosa Lee’s mother said, 

“Thank you, Rosa Lee. 

You are kind. 

You may help me. 

You may sweep the floor. 

You may make your bed. 

You may make my bed, too.” 

Rosa Lee did sweep the floor. 
She did make her little bed. 

She did make the big bed. 

She liked to help her mother. 
She was not too little to work! 

Rosa Lee’s mother 
sat in the big chair and smiled. 



( 46 ) 



Rosa Lee’s Breakfast 
Rosa Lee was awake. 

Her mother was asleep. 

Rosa Lee said, 

“Mother is not awake. 

I will call her. 
Good-morning, Mother.” 


Rosa Lee’s mother sat up in bed. 
She said, 

“Go to bed, Rosa Lee. 

It is too early to awake.” 

Rosa Lee said, 

“I am hungry. 

May I find my breakfast?” 

“You may try 
to find your breakfast,” 
said her mother. 

“Thank you, Mother,” 
said Rosa Lee. 

So Rosa Lee went 
to find her breakfast. 


( 48 ) 



She went to the big table 
to find her breakfast. 

She looked on the table. 
Her breakfast was not there. 

“Oh! Oh! Oh! 

I am hungry,” 
said Rosa Lee. 

“I will look and look. 

I will find my breakfast.” 





Rosa Lee went to the yard 
to look for her breakfast. 

She saw a hen. 

It was a big hen. 

Rosa Lee smiled at the hen. 
The hen did not smile 
at Rosa Lee. 


(50) 








“Oh, hen!” said Rosa Lee. 
“Please help me. 

I want to find my breakfast.” 

The hen looked at Rosa Lee. 
The hen said nothing. 

Rosa Lee said, 

“Oh! Oh! Oh! 

I want to eat my breakfast. 

I will look and look.” 

The hen looked at 
She did not talk. 

Rosa Lee went on. 



( 51 ) 


Rosa Lee saw an apple tree. 
“Oh, apple tree/’ 
said Rosa Lee. 

“Please help me. 

I can find nothing to eat. 

I am hungry. 

I want to eat my breakfast. 

I want a big apple. 

May I have a big apple?” 




The apple tree said nothing. 
Rosa Lee said, 

“Please give me a good apple 
for my breakfast.” 

The apple tree did not talk. 

“Oh! Oh!” said Rosa Lee, 

“I am hungry.” 

She looked at the apple tree. 
She looked and looked. 

She said, 

“I am so hungry! 

I want a good apple. 

I will look and look. 

I will find my breakfast.” 


Rosa Lee saw a goat. 

“Oh, goat,” she said, 

“Please help me. 

My mother is asleep. 

I am hungry. 

I want my breakfast. 

Please give me some milk 
for my breakfast.” 




The goat looked at Rosa Lee. 

It said nothing. 

Rosa Lee went near the goat. 
The goat was eating grass. 

Rosa Lee did not like 
to see the goat eating grass. 

She said, "Oh! Oh! Oh! 

I am so hungry. 

I have nothing to eat 
for my breakfast. 

A goat can eat grass for breakfast. 
Goat, I think you are not kind. 

I think you are not polite. 

Oh, me! Oh, my! I am so hungry!” 


( 55 ) 


The goat looked at Rosa Lee. 

It saw her pretty dress. 

It said, “Baa-a-a! Baa-a-a!” 

Rosa Lee did not like 
to have the goat “Baa-a-a” at her. 
She ran to her mother. 

Rosa Lee’s mother 
was near the table. 

She looked at Rosa Lee. 

Rosa Lee said, 

“Oh, Mother, Mother! 

I am so hungry. 

Will you please give me 
a good breakfast?” 

(56) 




“I will,” said her mother. 

“I will give you an egg. 

I will give you some bread. 

I will give you some butter. 

I will give you some milk. 

I will give you an apple. 

You may have a big breakfast.” 


( 57 ) 




“What a good breakfast!” 
said Rosa Lee. 

“An egg is good. 

An apple is good. 

Milk is good. 

Bread and butter are good. 
Thank you Mother.” 

Rosa Lee ate her breakfast. 

She said, 

“I have a good mother. 

She gave me a good breakfast. 
I am going to help my mother. 
I will help her today.” 



SOMETHING TO DO 

1. Cut a hen. 

2. Cut an apple. 

3. Draw a goat. 

4. Color the hen. 

5. Color the apple. 

6. Color the goat. 

7. Tell your teacher 

what you ate for breakfast. 

8. Rosa Lee is little. 

Tell what she can do 
to help her mother. 



CAN YOU DO THIS? 

1. Make two black hens. 

2. Make one white goat. 

3. Make three black chairs. 

4. Make four black books. 

5. Make one black table. 

6. Make one red apple. 

7. Make five red flowers. 

8. Make something 
red and white. 

9. Make something 
black and white. 

10. Make something 
red and black. 

11. Make a picture of your house. 




YES OR NO? 


1. An apple is red. 

2. A hen is black. 

3. A table is big. 

4. A chair is little. 

5. A house is big. 

6. An apple is white. 

7. A pretty flower is black. 

8. Harold is big. 

9. Mrs. Johnson is little. 

10. Rosa Lee’s mother is kind. 

11. Rosa Lee ate a good breakfast. 

12. Clara did not work. 

13. The goat was eating grass. 

14. Rosa Lee’s dress was pretty. 


(61) 


The Clock 


Tick-tock 
Nine o’clock! 

Time to read, 
Time to write, 
Time to draw, 
Time to work, 
Tick-tock, 

Nine o’clock! 




The clock said, 

“It is nine o’clock. 

It is time to begin school. 

Is Harold here? 

It is time to read. 

Is Clara here? 

It is time to write. 

Is Rosa Lee here? 

It is time to work. 

Clara will sing. 

Harold will draw. 

Rosa Lee will smile.” 

SOMETHING TO DO 
Draw a big clock. 

Make it say, “Nine o’clock.” 


(63) 


Going to Clara’s House 

One day Clara said 
to her teacher, 

“Will you go to my house? 

I want you to see my mother. 

I want you to see my grandfather. 
I want my mother to see you. 

I want my grandfather to see you.” 




“Thank you, Clara,” 
said Mrs. Johnson. 

“I want to see your mother. 

I want to see your grandfather. 
I want to see your house. 

I will go with you. 

Is your house near Dunbar?” 


(65) 


‘Yes, it is near,” said Clara. 


Mrs. Johnson went with Clara. 
They saw Clara’s house. 

Clara lived in a white house. 

They saw Clara’s mother. 

She was in the yard. 







Clara said, 

“Mother, this is my teacher. 

Her name is Mrs. Johnson. 

Mrs. Johnson, this is my mother.” 

Clara’s mother said, 
“Good-morning, Mrs. Johnson. 

Will you come into the house?” 





“Thank you/’ said Mrs. Johnson. 

They went into the house. 

Clara said, “Mrs. Johnson, 
this is my grandfather.” 

“Good-morning!” 
said Mrs. Johnson. 

Clara’s grandfather said, 

“We are glad you came.” 

(08) 


Clara said, 

“Will you sit in this chair?” 

“Thank you, Clara.” 
said Mrs. Johnson. 

Clara’s mother 
sat in a chair. 

Her grandfather 
sat in a big chair. 

He liked big chairs. 

Clara sat in a little chair. 




Clara smiled. 

Her mother smiled and talked. 

Her grandfather smiled and talked. 
Her teacher smiled and talked. 
They talked of flowers. 

They talked of books. 

They talked of pictures. 

They talked of Dunbar School. 
They were happy. 


(70) 



Mrs. Johnson said, 



“It is time to go home.” 


Clara’s mother said, 
“We are glad you came.” 


“Thank you,” 
said Mrs. Johnson. 

“I like your happy home.” 

(Tl) 












CAN YOU DO THIS? 

1. Make a picture 
of Clara’s house. 

2. Make a picture of your house. 

3. Make a picture 

of your school house. 

4. Draw pictures of the chairs 
at Clara’s house. 

5. Draw a picture of a woman. 

6. Find a picture 

of a pretty home. 

7. Find a picture of a man. 

8. Find a picture of a woman. 

9. Cut a picture of an apple. 

10. Color the apple red. 


( 72 ) 


Dunbar 

It was nine o’clock. 

Clara was at school. 

Rosa Lee was at school. 
Harold was at school. 

Mrs. Johnson was at school. 

Anna Bell said, 

“It is time for a story. 

Mrs. Johnson, please tell us 
a story.” 



Harold and Rosa Lee said, 
“Yes, Mrs. Johnson, 

Please tell us a story.” 

Mrs. Johnson said, 

“You have been good today. 
You have worked and worked. 
You have smiled, too. 

I shall tell you a story.” 


“Oh, good!” said Clara. 
“Is it a happy story?” 


“No,” said Mrs. Johnson. 
“It is not a happy story. 

I am going to tell 
you the story 
of a slave.” 




A man and a woman 
lived in the South. 

They did not have a house. 
They did not have a table. 
They did not have chairs. 
They did not have a bed. 
They wanted a home. 

They wanted a pretty home. 
The man was black. 


(75) 


The woman was black. 
They worked and worked. 


The man was a slave. 
The woman was a slave. 
They were not happy. 
They wanted to be free. 



One day the man said, 

“I will go away. 

I will find work. 

I will make a home for us. 

It will be a good home. 

Our house will be pretty. 

Our yard will be clean. 

We will have chairs and a table.’' 


( 76 ) 


He did go away. 

The woman did not go. 

The man’s master wanted 
to find his slave. 

The master looked and looked. 

He wanted to bring the slave home. 
He wanted the black man to work. 
He did not find the man. 

The black man went 
on and on. 

It was good to be free. 

He wanted to find work, 

He did find work to do. 

The black man 



liked to work. 

He did good work. 

A war came. 

A war is not good. 

A war will not make us happy. 
This was a big, big war. 

White men were killed. 

Black men were killed. 

Every slave was free! 

The black woman went away 
to find the man. 

She did find the man. 


( 78 ) 


They said, 

“We have little to eat. 

We are hungry. 

We will work for 
something to eat.” 

The man worked. 

The woman worked. 

They worked and worked. 
They wanted to be happy. 

One day the man said, 

“I want to learn to read.” 

“Yes,” said the woman, 

“I want to learn to read, too. 
I will find a book.” 


( 79 ) 


The woman did find some books. 
She said to the man, 

“See the pretty pictures! 

Do you • like our books?” 

The man said, 

“Yes, I like our books. 

I must learn to read the books.” 


They learned to read the books. 





The man 
and the woman 
were happy. 

One day a 
baby came 
to live with them. 

It was a good baby. 


The woman said, 

“I am glad the baby came 
to live with us.” 


(81) 



The man said, 

“We will make a good home 
for our baby.” 

The woman loved the baby. 

The man loved the baby. 

They said, 

“We must find a good name for him.’" 

( 82 ) 


They did find a name 
for the little baby. 

It was a big name. 

The name was 

PAUL LAURENCE DUNBAR. 


In a little time 

Paul Laurence was not a baby. 
He went to school. 

He learned to read and write. 
Paul Laurence liked 
to go to school. 

The father died. 

Paul Laurence and his mother 
were not happy. 

There was little to eat. 

(83) 



There was no one to help them. 

Paul Laurence learned to work. 
He was an elevator-boy. 

His mother worked, too. 

She wanted Paul Laurence to have 
a good home. 

She wanted to help him. 

Paul Laurence and his mother 
liked to read good books. 



His mother read poems 
to Paul Laurence. 

Paul Laurence read poems 
to his mother. 

Paul Laurence was a kind boy. 
He helped his mother. 

He was kind to his friends. 

He was polite to his mother 
and to his friends. 

One day Paul Laurence said, 
“Mother, I want to write. 

I shall try to write a poem.” 

He did write some poems. 

He tried to write good poems. 


( 85 ) 


His mother wanted Paul Laurence 
to be happy. 

She wanted him to write 
good poems. 

She tried to help him. 

She said, “Paul Laurence, 

I like to read your poems.” 

He said, “Thank you, Mother. 

I am glad you like my poems.” 

Paul Laurence Dunbar 
wrote good poems. 

He wrote for all boys and girls. 
He wrote for all men and women. 
Everyone liked to read his poems. 



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PAUL LAURENCE DUNBAR 

A great Negro poet 

(. 87 ) 









Harold said, 

“Paul Laurence Dunbar 
was a great poet. 

Read one of his poems, please.” 

Mrs. Johnson read, 

THE POET AND HIS SONG. 

Clara said, 

“Please read more poems. 

We like to have you read.” 

Mrs. Johnson read one more poem. 




Rosa Lee said, “I like poems. 
Please read more.” 

“Not today,” said Mrs. Johnson, 
“it is time to go home.” 

Harold asked, 

“Is our school named 
for Paul Laurence Dunbar?” 

“Yes,” said Mrs. Johnson, 

“our school is named 
for Paul Laurence Dunbar.” 

Clara said, 

“Paul Laurence Dunbar was clean. 
We must be clean, too.” 


( 89 ) 


Rosa Lee said, 

“Paul Laurence Dunbar was polite. 
We must be polite, too. 

We must be polite to our teacher. 
We must be polite to our fathers. 
We must be polite to our mothers. 
We must be polite to our friends. 
Harold is polite and kind.” 








-/■Mf 


Mrs. Johnson said, 

“Yes, we must be clean. 

We must be kind and polite. 

And we must work 

if we want to have many friends.” 

“Can we write poems, too?” 
asked Clara. 

“Some of us can not write poems,” 
said Mrs. Johnson. 

“Some of us can write poems 
if we try and try.” 

Clara said, “I have tried. 

I have a poem. 

May I read the poem I wrote?” 


( 91 ) 


“Yes, Clara, 

read the poem for us,” 
said Harold. 

“Do read your poem, Clara,” 
said Rosa Lee. 

Clara read: 

“I must he kind and clean and neat. 
This will help me to be sweet.” 

“Oh, we like your poem!” 
said Harold and Rosa Lee. 




“Thank you,” said Clara. 


They made a ring. 

The happy boys and girls 
made a big ring. 

Mrs. Johnson heard them sing 
a little song. 

Clean and neat! 

Clean and neat! 

We must be clean 
And we must be neat, 

If we want to be 
Sweet, sweet, sweet! 

(93) 


Rosa Lee looked at the clock. 
It was twelve o’clock. 

Rosa Lee was hungry. 

She sang this little song. 

Tick-tock, 

Twelve o’clock! 

Time to eat, 

Time to rest, 

Time to run, 

Time to play! 

Tick-tock, 

Twelve o’clock! 



HOW? 


1. How can you be clean? 

2. How can you be polite? 

3. How can you be kind? 

TRY THIS 
Clara made a poem. 

Can you make a poem? 

This is Harold’s poem: 

“Many friends we will find 
If we are good and kind.” 

Ask your teacher 
to write your poems 
on the blackboard. 


( 95 ) 



Our Class 

This is our class. 

We are in the first grade. 
We all came out 
to have our picture made. 


( 96 ) 
























One is Floyd. 

One is Geraldine. 

One is Harold. 

One is Clara. 

One is Rosa Lee. 

Can you find Harold? 

Can you find Clara? 

Can you find Rosa Lee? 

Is Anna Bell here? 

How many boys and girls 
are in our class? 

How many boys are in our class? 
How many girls are in our class? 
Count the boys and girls. 


( 97 ) 


How We Play at Home 

Clara likes to play. 

She has a teapot. 

She plays with the teapot. 

Geraldine has a teapot. 

She likes to play with her teapot. 
She likes to play with Clara. 

Geraldine sings: 

“A little teapot 
To keep the tea hot!” 





Floyd has four dogs. 

One day Floyd said, 

“My dogs are hungry. 

I will find some meat.” 

Geraldine said, 

“Here is some good meat. 
Give it to the dogs, Floyd.” 

One dog did not come. 

He ran away. 

Floyd ran after the dog. 
They ran and ran. 

Geraldine said, 

“I will help you, Floyd.” 

She ran after the dog, too. 

(99) 




Floyd said, 

“Here Heavy! Here Heavy!” 
The dog’s name was Heavy. 


Heavy did not come. 
He wanted to play. 
They ran and ran. 

Floyd fell. Poor Floyd! 


( 100 ) 



Floyd did not want Clara 
to see him. 

He did not want Rosa Lee 
to see him. 

He did not want Harold 
to see him. 

He wanted to cry. 

Floyd said, 

“I fell. 

My face is not clean. 

My hands are not clean. 

I do not want 
Mrs. Johnson 
to see me.” 


Floyd ran home. 

He said, 

“I must take a bath. 

I must find some clean clothes. 
I want to be clean.” 

He did take a bath. 

See how clean he is! 

He is going to school. 

He wants to see his friends. 
( 102 ) 



Clara’s Doll 

Clara has a doll. 

This is Clara’s doll. 

Is the doll beautiful? 
Poor little doll! 


( 103 ) 







Clara’s doll will go to sleep. 

One day it went to sleep. 

It fell from the chair. 

It fell on something hard. 

All the doll’s teeth came out. 

Clara said, 

“Poor little doll! 

Do not cry.” 

The doll did not cry. 

It said nothing. 

Clara did cry. 

She wanted her doll to be pretty. 
She looked at the doll. 

It was not beautiful. 


( 104 ) 



SSSra 










Clara’s Kittens 

Clara has two kittens. 

One kitten is yellow. 

She is named Anna Bell. 

Can you find Anna Bell? 

Can you find a black kitten? 


( 105 ) 




















Clara said, 

“My kittens can sing. 

They can play. 

They can jump. 

They eat meat. 

They drink milk. 

They have fun. 

I like my pretty kittens.” 


(106 \ 



WHAT YOU MAY DO 

1. Cut two white kittens. 

2. Draw two yellow kittens. 

3. Which do you like better, 
to draw a kitten 

or to cut a kitten? 

4. Which color do you like? 


The Party 

We had a party. 

It was a tea party. 

We drank good tea. 

Clara said, 

“I like this tea.” 


Anna Bell said, 

“Thank you, Clara. 

I made the tea for you.” 



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Harold said, 

“The cookies are good, 'too.” 

We played games. 

In one game Floyd was IT. 

We said, “You must not look.” 
Floyd did not look. 

He counted, 

“One, two, three, four, five.” 

We ran away. 

Floyd tried to find us. 

He tried and tried. 

He did not find us. 

We sang songs at the party. 
We had fun at the party. 

(109) 


SOMETHING TO TALK ABOUT 

1. Have you had a party? 

2. When have you had a party? 

3. What games did you play? 

4. Make a story about the games 
you like to play. 

5. Read your story. 

6. Play you are going 
to have a party. 

What will you eat? 

What will you drink? 

What games will you play? 

How will you be kind? 

How will you be polite? 


( 110 ) 


WHO? 


1 . 

2 . 

3. 

4. 

5. 

6 . 

7. 

8 . 
9. 

10 . 

11 . 


Who has two kittens? 
Who has four dogs? 
Who has a goat? 

Who has a doll? 

Who saw a black hen? 
Who has a teapot? 
Who helps his mother? 
Who had a party? 

Who is Heavy? 

Who fell? 

Who said, 

“Tick-tock, 

Nine o’clock”? 



(in) 



Who am I? 

I am little. 

I eat grass. 

I live with Harold. 
Who am I? 

I am little. 

I am yellow. 

I can jump. 

I live with Clara. 
Who am I? 

I am not little. 

I live with Floyd. 

I like to eat meat. 

I ran away one day. 

Who am I? 

( 112 ) 















Our Songs 

One day a woman came 
to our school. 

She was our friend. 

The woman said, 

“Please sing for me.” 

We said, 

“We shall be glad 
to sing for you. 

What shall we sing?” 

The woman said, 

“I want you to sing 
STANDING IN THE NEED 
OF PRAYER.” 


(113) 



We sang this song for her. 

We sang many songs for her. 

The woman said, “Thank you. 
I like to hear you sing. 

I think your own songs 
are so beautiful. 

Do you love them, too?” 


( 114 ) 



Mrs. Johnson said, “Thank you. 
We love our own songs. 

We are glad you love them, too.” 

The white woman said, 

“I am glad you love your own songs. 
Will you sing one more for me? 

I think God must have been there 
when your songs were made.” 

Clara said, “Thank you. 

We want people to like our songs. 
We shall sing them more and more. 
It is kind of you to tell us 
they are beautiful. 

We want to keep them beautiful.” 


(115) 


SOMETHING TO TALK ABOUT 

1. Do you like to sing? 

* • i\ 

2 . What kind of music do you 
like? 

3. Can you sing 
STANDING IN THE NEED 
OF PRAYER? 

4. Do you have a pretty voice? 

5. How can you make your voice 
more beautiful? 

6. Are you happy when you sing 
a pretty song? 

7. Do you sing for your mother? 

8. Do you sing for the baby? 

9. Do you sing for your father? 


( 116 ) 


Roland Hayes 

One day Mrs. Johnson said, 
“Shall I tell you a story 
about a boy who wanted to sing?” 

“Oh, yes!” said Harold. 

“Oh, yes!” said Clara. 

“Oh, yes! Tell us the story!” 



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This is the story: 


Not many years ago 
a baby came to live 
in a little log house 
in the South. 

His name was Roland Hayes. 

His father and mother were poor. 
They worked hard. 

They loved the baby. 

One day a big log fell 



on Roland’s father. 

The father was hurt. 

He could not work. 

Roland was a little boy. 

He wanted to work 
for his father and his mother. 

He could not do all the work. 

Roland’s mother 
had to work hard. 

She had to wash clothes 
for many people. 

Roland helped his mother. 

He liked to help her 

make the clothes clean and white. 



(H9> 


Roland’s mother had to iron, too. 
She worked hard to make the 
clothes neat and pretty. 

Roland liked to see her iron. 

He did not like to see her 
work so hard all day. 

He wanted to help iron. 

He was too little to iron. 

When Roland was twelve years 
old, his father died. 

Roland’s mother said, 

“I want Roland to go to school. 
School will be better in town. 

We will go to town.” 

(120) 


The mother and Roland 
went to live in town. 

Roland went to school in town. 
He worked hard at school. 

He and his mother 
worked hard at home. 

When Roland was big 
he worked away from home. 
The work was hard to do. 

He had to carry hot iron. 

Day after day, he carried 
the hot iron. 

It fell on his feet. 

Oh, how it burned his feet! 

4 

: I 



( 121 ) 


Roland liked to work. 

He did not like to be burned. 

Day after day, he worked away. 
He did good work. 

He said, “I like to work. 

I do not like burned feet. 

I like to sing. 

I will sing to forget 
my burned feet.” 

Roland’s friends liked 
to hear him sing. 

They asked him to sing 
more and more. 

They wanted him to go 



(122) 


to a music school. 


Oh, how Roland did want to go 
to a good music school! 


His mother was poor. 

She wanted to help Roland. 

She did help him all she could. 
She worked day after day 
to help him go to a music school. 


Roland worked too. 

He worked to carry the hot iron. 
He began to study music, too. 
He worked to make his voice 
more beautiful. 

He worked to learn 



what good music is. 

He heard good music. 

He sang good music. 

He learned to love 
good music. 

Roland wanted to sing 
for his people. 

He wanted to sing 
for white people. 

He wanted 
to please people 
with beautiful music. 

One night he sang 
in a beautiful big house. 


(124) 



White people came 
to hear him. 

Black people came to hear him. 
They liked 
to hear him sing. 

After Roland sang many songs, 
a man came to him. 

The man said, 

“You sing beautifully. 

(12 r») 





Why can you sing so beautifully?” 

Roland could not tell the man 
why he sang so beautifully. 

He went home. 

He sat in a big chair. 

He thought, “I like to sing. 

I think I must sing. 

Why do I want to sing? 

I love good music. 

Why do I love good music?” 

Roland Hayes thought and 
thought. 

After a time he said: 


(126) 


‘‘Music is a gift from God 
to my people. 

I must help them use this gift. 
We must love our music. 

It is beautiful. 

We must keep our music beautiful. 
We must bring this gift from God 
to all people. 

God wants me to help 
bring the gift. 

This is why I can sing. 

This is my work. 

I will do my work beautifully.” 


( 127 ) 


Underwood and Underwood 


This is Roland Hayes. 

He loves to sing Negro songs. 
He sings all songs beautifully. 
Black people and white people 
love to hear Roland Hayes sing. 


( 128 ) 








DO YOU KNOW? 

1. What hurt Roland Hayes’ feet? 

2. Who loves music? 

3. Why Paul Laurence Dunbar 

had many friends? 

4. What we did at our party? 

5. Who helped Mrs. Johnson 
to make the school pretty? 

6. What we call our school? 

7. What the goat said to Rosa Lee? 

8. Why Clara’s doll is not pretty? 

9. Why Roland Hayes can sing 
so beautifully? 

10. Why Roland Hayes worked hard 
when he was a boy? 


( 129 ) 


Thank You 


It was morning. 

Geraldine was asleep. 

Floyd was awake. 

He called, “Geraldine! Geraldine!” 

Floyd called one more time. 
“Geraldine! Are you awake? 

It is seven o’clock.” 

Geraldine said nothing. 

Floyd said, 

“I think you do not know 
what day this is.” 


(130 






















Geraldine sat up. 

“Oh, yes, I know! 

It is Thank You Day,” 
she cried. 

“We will say ‘Thank You’ 
to all the people who have 
helped us. 

Thank you, Floyd, for calling me.” 


Geraldine and Floyd had a bath. 
They put on clean clothes. 

They ate a good breakfast. 



Geraldine washed her teeth. 
Floyd washed his teeth. 

They said, “Thank you, Mother, 
for the good breakfast/’ 

They ran to the school house. 
Harold was there. 

Clara was there. 

Anna Bell was there. 

Mrs. Johnson was not there. 

“Good-morning,” 
said Geraldine and Floyd. 

“Good-morning” 
said the boys and girls. 

“Come and play with us.” 

(133) 


Mrs. Johnson came. 

She said, “Oh, thank you 
for coming early today.” 

Rosa Lee asked, 

“Do you know what day this is?” 

“It is Thank You Day,” 
cried Geraldine and Floyd. 

“Yes,” said Mrs. Johnson, 

“We want to thank all who helped.” 

“We can put a letter in our book,” 
said Harold. 

And they did. 


(13J) 


Dear Friends, 

You have been kind to us. 
Thank you, mothers. 

Thank you, fathers. 

Thank you, goats. 

Thank you, hen. 

Thank you, kittens. 

Thank you, dogs. 

Thank you, doll. 

Thank you, friends. 

Thank you, all. 

Your friends, 

The First Grade 
Dunbar School. 



(135) 




























































































































































































































































































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